what effect does this have on the probe into members of chris christie's administration. >>> a frantic rescue caught on tape after an avalanche roars through a neighborhood. why is one person calling it incredible anyone came out alive. >>> and wasted. the shocking numbers behind a new study on how much food americans throw away. >>> hello, everyone, it's high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. out west. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." breaking news out of russia, where the russian parliament has approved vladimir putin's request to use troops in the crimea region of ukraine. putin says the move is needed to protect a russian military base there, as well as ethnic russians living in the region. let's go to nbc's jim maceda with the very latest on this. jim, let's get the latest. are we seeing something that could be another cold war brewing here between the u.s. and russia, ultimately? >> reporter: alex, well, the first sign things were going seriously south today was this morning when russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said that ukrainian power militaries actually attacked the